The Knight and the Duck
by Abarero
Summary: Many strange things happened in the village of Kinkan, but with the appearance of one girl things became even stranger. This is her story, from beginning to end, through the eyes of a young knight named Fakir. [Fakir POV. FakirAhiru]
1. Premonitions

Author's Notes: This will be a Fakir POV story following him through the series that I'm writing for my claim at the livejournal community 30(underscore)romances. This will have spoilers for the entire series.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 1:** Premonitions  
**Theme:** # 2. The subconscious ; Bury

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"_Ahiru.__ Her name is Ahiru?_"

I look down at the paper one more time to make sure, but it has to be right. It's the only name that seems somewhat unfamiliar.

"Thank you, that's all I needed."

The secretary nods and tucks the paper back into a file.

"She must be a lucky girl if you're so interested in her, young man."

I look to the woman, if you could call the lady giraffe that, and blink in confusion at her words.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh well, you know how the rumors travel. You and Mytho seem to have several girls yearning for your affections."

"It's not like that," I snap, not comfortable with the way that sentiment makes me feel, "I was just curious, that's all."

I turn away, but I can hear her giggling and murmuring "such a lucky girl indeed" to herself. Sighing, I head back towards the dormitory with a heavy heart.

"_Why did I have to get interested in a girl that's only going to be tons of trouble for me?_"

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The whole mess started that morning.

Mytho had left early for his practices, and as usual, I was hanging around to make sure nothing happened to him. That's when I noticed the orange-haired blur dashing its way towards the building. Squinting out the window, I identified that blur as none other than a mysterious new girl.

I'm not sure why it is I noticed her. And at first glance, she was just the same as all the other irritating girls that flock around Mytho and me. But there was something different about her, almost like she didn't belong. Almost like- she appeared out of nowhere.

I couldn't seem to remember when she joined our school- and when I tried to think about it, it was like I hit a glass ceiling that kept me from the truth I so desperately wanted to know. There was just something about her that made me want to know her, made me want to get closer to her. But as I watched her approach, I found that she was giving me mixed signals.

I can't really pinpoint why I thought that, but it was a subconscious instinct I couldn't ignore. If she was going to be any sort of threat to Mytho, I had to watch her carefully.

Since that day I found Mytho, my life has changed drastically. The story of the Prince and the Raven was true, and as the Knight- it was my duty to protect Mytho no matter what. And with a storybook Prince in my life, many strange things have happened to me. Most of them accompanied with some subconscious feeling of dread or suspicion.

It's laughable, I suppose- but I've toyed enough with fate in the past to not completely write such events off. Instead, I just try to suppress them. The last time I dared to write my own ending to something- my parents died. Ever since then, I swore I'd never write a story again. Never again would I give into these buried premonitions that seemed to be spelling out the future.

Instead, all I can do is to keep Mytho safe. Protect him from whatever these premonitions might be. That's why for years I've tried to keep Rue away from him. There's something about her I just can't put my finger on, but I have a feeling that it would only cause trouble for Mytho if it manifested itself.

At that moment though, when I saw that girl coming closer and closer- I felt two things at once. Part of it was bad, as if her presence would cause something horrible to occur to Mytho. But, at the same time, she seemed like a good omen as well; a thought that I kept dwelling on as I watched her frantically dashing about the school grounds.

I almost wanted to wait in the doorway for her, just so I could casually tell her that she was an hour early and that she'd best go on back to bed. But inwardly, I scolded myself for wanting to leave Mytho unprotected just so I could converse with this girl.

On hearing the main door open, the subconscious feeling grew stronger. Something was very strange about this girl; and I felt that if I let her too close to Mytho, someone was going to disappear from my life.

I almost rushed to her that very moment, hoping I could stop her from setting a single foot near Mytho. But for some reason, I found I couldn't even move. And I could still swear I heard an old man's voice in my head saying, "_Leave her be. Let my story take its course._"

That terrified me and I knew something bad was going to happen to Mytho if he met this girl.

"Oh I'm so late! Sensei is going to be furious with me!" Her voice echoed down the empty hallway.

I remember seeing her pass where I stood and once I heard the door down the hallway close- I stumbled forward. Whatever it was that had kept me from moving had let go.

Quietly I had followed her, edging my way towards the door and listening for any signs of trouble from within. First, I heard music. Then, I heard the girl babbling to Mytho about something. As I reached for the door, I heard her ask him the strangest thing.

"I'm weird, aren't I? I mean- even I think I'm weird."

"Not really," Mytho had replied. The girl, like the others, not thinking anything of Mytho's emotionless passive attitude.

"What? I'm not weird?"

"Not really."

"I can't believe that. No one's ever said that to me."

I cracked the door open and peered in; my curiosities about the girl being stifled due to my growing fear that Mytho would be hurt.

"Hey."

"Fakir…" Mytho murmured, looking up at me. I could see the girl sitting on edge as I approached, but I ignored her.

"I told you to let me know when you go out, didn't I?"

"I know."

"We're going. Stand up," I ordered him, but Mytho didn't move. "What's wrong?"

"My foot…"

"Foot? Did you twist it?"

"Yes."

"You idiot," I reprimanded. If he would only listen to me he wouldn't get hurt, but the damned good-hearted prince still keeps making him try.

"Um. That was my fault. He saved me when I tripped and…"

Thinking back on it, it was brave of her to speak up to an upperclassman like that. At the time, my mind had been elsewhere- still furious at Mytho for being so careless.

"What we're you thinking doing such a pointless thing?"

Once again, the girl had tried to defend Mytho, "So like I said, he was protecting me…"

"That's why I said it was pointless," I'd said, before turning to Mytho and yanking up him, "Stand up. We're going back to the dormitory."

"You don't have to be so rough with him!"

"Shut up!" My last words echo in my mind even now.  
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As I walk across the pathways to the dorm, I pause and shake my head. I must have come off so cold to her at the time. But- there are too many things she doesn't understand about Mytho's past or why he can't be going around playing hero all the time. And either way, that doesn't change the fact that something about her makes me feel something inside.

For a moment, the secretary's implications register and I wonder if maybe that could be part of it. I did find myself strangely interested in this otherwise rather ordinary girl.

She was clumsy- but despite that she seemed to have a lot of bravery and spunk. And something about seeing her gave me an undeniable feeling of hope that all my problems as the Knight would soon be solved.

Sighing to myself, I shake my head once more.

"_Fakir, you're the idiot. You can't go falling for someone this suspicious. You'll just have to forget what you think about her and keep her away from Mytho. That's your duty as the Knight._"

And as I catch a brief glimpse of her poking around the bushes outside the boys dormitory I wonder what's more important- my duty to the Prince or my duty to my heart?

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	2. Of Fools and Idiots

**Chapter 2:** Of Fools and Idiots

**Theme:** # 15. Take a hint ; Scram!

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There she was; the orange-haired blur, also known as Ahiru. She had most likely just come from her ballet class. But thinking back to my encounter with her before, I silently wondered how such a klutz could ever hope to do ballet.

_"Idiot. She's probably here to do something pointless like apologizing to Mytho for his injury..."_ I mused to myself, silently coming up behind her.

Whatever she was up to, she seemed so caught up in it to even notice me approach. Watching her with amusement, I almost wished I knew what crazy thoughts were going through her mind.

_"You're staring, idiot,"_ My thoughts cut in, _"Doubt she'll be intimidated by you any longer if she catches you gawking at her like some love-struck fool."_

Shaking that from my mind, I adjusted my face into a scowl and coolly spoke up. Love-struck? Hah- yah right. Like I'd ever be interested in an idiot like this...

"You're in the way."

She snapped her head around and glared at me. No doubt, she probably didn't think too highly of me after that morning. But, probably still not certain how to act around me, she managed to drop her irritated glance in favor of a more kind, innocent one. I had to resist the urge to smirk.

"Um... um... Mytho-sempai..." She stammered. Closing my eyes, and sticking my hands in my pockets- I casually walked right past her. Hopefully, she'd get the hint and get the hell out of there.

"He's not here," I muttered. Beside me, she held back a growl of irritation and continued to turn on the charm.

"Then...um... Where is he?"

I opened the door, wondering just why the hell fate decided to throw _this_ sort of problem my way. Wasn't the fact I had to put up with Mytho and his stupid heroics bad enough? Sometimes, I wondered if someone out there was just pulling strings so they could laugh at me frantically trying to keep the story contained.

"Go away," I yelled back. Just like everyone else, this girl- this...Ahiru, had no business around Mytho. She didn't know the truth of the story. No one knew, except me. And that's why it was my duty to keep it from turning into reality anymore than it already had. If any of the other characters from the story appeared... if the raven appeared... I just wasn't sure if I'd be a strong enough knight to protect Mytho.

Slamming the door behind me, I felt it collide with something. Sure enough, a muffled "ow!" echoed through the door.

_"Idiot, can't you take a hint and scram?"_ I fumed, looking behind me. Of course, there she was with bright blue eyes acting like nothing was wrong at all. Damn idiot, stuck in a door and acting like the world is just peachy keen. What the hell was with her anyways?

Not fazed at all, she posed a question, "How's his injury?"

And since I knew she wasn't going to just walk away like I so wanted her to, I gave a reply, "It wasn't anything serious."

"I'd like to apologize to him."

Inwardly, I cursed at myself for predicting the idiot's intent.

"There's no need."

She slid down the door's crack and stood quickly; turning serious- she started yelling at me. It looked like her irritation with me had finally hit its boiling point and she'd dropped the nice-girl act. Glaring back at her, I waited for her retort.

"Are you always like this when you talk to people?"

_"No...just you,"_ I thought to myself, not quite expecting that sort of question. And not wanting her to think that that meant anything special, I slammed the door in her face.

Did she have even the slightest idea how being around her messed with my head? Damn emotions and premonitions... just damn them both. The whole day was just driving me insane. Between this girl just showing up- by all indications- out of nowhere and then her sudden penchant for trying to get around Mytho. It just plain infuriated me.

Climbing the stairs, I found myself remembering talking to Rachel when I was a child. For some reason, it seemed to fit what was happening now. And that thought both comforted me and yet- worried me.

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_"You know, Fakir. Mytho will always be the ones girls pick if you keep brooding like this."_

"Rachel! Why would I care about a stupid girl?"

She laughed at me then, "Someday, Fakir. Someday you'll meet someone. And no matter how much you might try to deny it, they'll make themselves an important part of your life. Just don't get jealous if it seems they only have eyes for Mytho. I'm sure, with time, someone will see the person you keep trying to hide underneath your tough facade."

"Hmph! I'm the knight, I don't have time to fall in love."

"Even brave knights have hearts, Fakir. Remember that." 

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Reaching the door to my dorm, I paused. Sure- I had a heart. Unlike Mytho, I did have a heart although I'm sure by my actions, some people might not quite believe it at times. But that was because I had to put Mytho first, above everything else. If he was to get hurt- if the story was to start again, I had to be ready to act.

Then again, I _had_ been gawking at her like a love-struck fool. And I'd asked around until I'd found out her name. Sighing in resignation, I quickly reassured myself of two things. One, I was only staring because she was an idiot and idiots often give cause to be gawked at. And two, I only sought her name so I could yell it at her if she tried to bother Mytho again.

Yep, that was it. And confident that that was over, I entered the room to check on Mytho. My mind only dwelling on Ahiru long enough to get mad at her for making Mytho act so stupid. Not that I was calling her by name now or anything... Stupid idiot.

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End file.
